Wrench.



No. 627,950. Patented lune 27;, 1899..

a. E. ZEIGLIER.

W B E N G H (Appliction filed Nov. 3, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: 2

m: Nunms Pmns co mofauwa. WASHINGYON. o. c.

V UNITED STATES GEORGE E. ZEIGLER, OF PARNASSUS, PENNSYLVANIA;

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,950, dated J time 27, 1899.

Application filed November 3, 1898. Serial No. 695,411. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE'E. ZEIGLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Parnassus, in the county of \Vestmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in renches,

of which the following is a specification.

My improvement relates to wrenches in which provision is made by a rocking stem havinga mutilated screw mounted in the handle and in a nut in the movable jaw, whereby the latter has a free travel and is moved by hand on the shank of the fixed jaw and locked and released at any point in its travel thereon, and my said improvement resides in the means whereby the sliding jaw is rendered more effective in its locking function and in its adjustment upon the article to be turned, as will be more particularly set out in the claims concluding this specification.

The wrench shown in the accompanying drawings embodies my improvement.

Figure l is a longitudinal section, the sliding jaw being out of engagement with and free to slide over its locking screw-stem. Fig. 2is a cross-section taken through the nut end of the sliding jaw on the line a b of Fig. 1, showingthe screw-stem out of locking engagement with the jaw. Fig. 3 is a like view on the line 0 d of Fig 1, showing the stop bywhich rocking movement of the screw-stem is limited when out of locking engagement with the jaw. Fig. 4 is a section like Fig. 2, showing the screw-stem as having been rocked in position for locking the sliding jaw. Fig. 5 is a section like Fig.3, showing the stop by which the rocking movement of the screw-stem is limited when in looking engagement withthe sliding jaw; and Figs. 6, 7, and 8 show detail viewsin which a wedge-formed rib on the shoulder of the screw-stem acts against a shoulder on the jaw-bar to'drive the screwstem forward when being rocked in position to lock the sliding jaw, whereby it is at thelooped part is a mutilated or half-formed screw-thread 3, Figs. 2 and 4, so as to form what may be termed a nut. The handle has the usual ferrule-abutment 4, and in this abutment and in the nutted end of the movable jaw a screw-stem 5 has its bearings and is carried, the threads ofthe stem being mutilated or forming a half-screw 6 and adapted to engage the nut portion 3 of the sliding jaw when the stem is rocked so as to bring the threaded parts of the socket in opposition, as in Figs. 4 and 5.

The engagement of the sliding jaw and screw-stem. locks and holds the sliding jaw when driven upon the nut orarticle to which it is applied, and to facilitate this engage ment of the locking-screw and nut of the sliding jaw I provide a spring-cushion for the screw-stem, whereby its engagement with the jaw-nut is readily effected by a slight pullback movement of the screw-stem against its cushioning-spring.

That end of the rock-stem next the ferruleabutment has a pivot-bearing in a socket 7 in the abu'tment,and this socket contains a spiral spring 8, whichconstantly presses the rock-stem toward the sliding jaw for a purpose which I shall presently state. This end of the rock-stem also has an enlarged cylin drical partv adapted to engage shoulders 9, formed by a recess in the handle-bar or shank and which keeps the rock-stem in its proper relation to the ferrule-abutment and to the nut 3 of the sliding jawand relieves the wrench-handle of the pressure on the sliding jaw, as in Fig. 8.

Thumb projections 10 on the shoulder of the stem part serve to rock the stem to bring its mutilated screw into and out of engagement with the nut of the sliding jaw, and these thumb projections also serve as stops, which when brought into engagement with the opposite sides of the jaw-bar limit the extent of the rocking movement of the screwstem to control its engagement and disengagement with the nut of the sliding jaw.

hen the sliding jaw is slid over the rockstem to grip the nut to be turned, the screwthreaded parts may not be just at the point to make engagement, and this would prevent the ready turning of the stem to lock the jaw. In this case the operator merely presses back by his thumb the rock-stem upon its cushioning-spring, giving the slightest movement to the stem, and thereby meshes the threads, as the pull back on the shoulder of the screwstem at the same time presses on the shoulder to turn the stem. The jaw and the stem having been thus locked the wedge-rib acts to force the stem and jaw forward to take up the lost motion made by the backward adjustment of the screw-stem to efiect its engagement with the jaw.

To support the movable jaw when thrust forward by the spring, and, in fact, to positively give the jaw a slight forward move ment with its locked stem, I provide the stemenlarged part or shoulder on its face next the ferrule-abutment 4 with a Wedge-rib l1, preferably concentric with the stem, adapted to act on the shoulder 9 of the shank-recess, so that as the screw-stem is rocked in position to lock it with the jaw-nut 3 the screw-stem and its jaw will be driven forward hard upon the nut to be turned, as in Fig. 8. In this simple way the screw-stem has a slight feeding function given to it by the spring and also by the wedge acting on the locking-stem at the same time to hold the jaw on the work. This gives a ready control of the wrench and a firm grip on the jaws on the article to be gripped and makes it better to hold the wrench in place when applied to the article.

The free sliding of the jaw by hand, lock ing it by the mutilated screw-stem, and then firmly setting the jaw on the gripped article by a wedge action on the locking-stem is a very advantageous construction in wrenches in which the movable jaw has a freely-sliding movement on the shank of the fixed jaw.

It will be understood that the action of the wedge-rib 11 against the shoulder 9 of the jawbar puts the gripping force of the sliding jaw on the jaw-bar, and thereby relieves the handle end screw-stem from the pressure on the movable jaw and which would otherwise be liable to strip the handle screw-stem. It will also be understood that the wedge action is in extent only sufiicient to move the sliding jaw in connection with the spring to keep the jaw on the gripped article and to sustain the jaw and relieve the spring from back pressure on the screw-stem, so that in locking the jaw and screw-stem the spring has a yielding function for the screw-stem, but when the latter is locked to the jaw the wedge is brought into action to sustain the movable jaw free of the spring by the same act by which the screwstem is locked to the sliding jaw. The butt-end of the wedge -rib may terminate in a small flat face.

I have shown the wedge-rib as formed on the shoulder part of the screw-stem, but it is obvious that it may be otherwise formed, so long as it is on the screw-stem.

I claim as my improvement- 1. In a wrench and in combination with the fixed jaw-bar having the shoulders 9, the sliding jaw having the mutilated nut and the screw-stem having the mutilated screw, and the shoulder thereof having the face wedgerib. adapted to engage the said shoulder for the purpose stated.

2. In a wrench and in combination with the fixed jaw having the shoulders, 9, the sliding jaw having the mutilated nut, and the screwstem having the mutilated screw and the cylindrical enlarged or shouldered part thereof having the face concentric wedge-rib adjacent to one of said shoulders.

3. In asliding-jaw wrench the sliding member formed with a mutilated nut, in combination with the fixed jaw and itshandle bar or shank, a rock-stem having a mutilated screw mounted in the nutted jaw and handle and cushioned fora free slight endwise movement, and provided with a wedge adapted to engage the jaw-bar in a way to advance the screw-stem and its nutted jaw on the article to be gripped for the purpose stated.

4. In a wrench and in combination with the fixed and slidingjaws the latter provided with a half screw-nut and the handle or ferrule abutment, of a rock-stem half screw-threaded and mounted to have a free endwise movement in the abutment and sliding-jaw socket whereby the jaw is free to he slid over said rock-stem and to be engaged with the threads thereof to lock the sliding jaw.

5. In asliding-jaw wrench the sliding member formed with a mutilated nut in combination with a cushioned rock-stem havinga mutilated screw-thread adapted to en gage and lock the sliding jaw.

6. In a sliding-jaw wrench and in combination, the fixed jaw and its handle, a rock-stem having a mutilated screw and mounted in a bearing on the handle-bar,ofaslidingjaw having a mutilated nut and adapted to have a sliding adjustment when not engaging the screw-stem whereby the latter forms the lock for the sliding jaw and means whereby the screw-stem is supported on the handle-bar.

7. In a sliding-jaw wrench and in combination with the fixed and sliding jaws, the latter having a mutilated nut, of a screw rockstem mounted upon the handle-bar and in the sliding jaw and a spring seated in the handle part for cushioning the stem for the purpose stated.

GEORGE E. ZEIGLER. Witnesses:

ISIE SMITH, S. L. GOERMAN. 

